The cancellation of Scalebound ended up hitting Microsoft's reputation pretty hard during the Xbox One era and Microsoft has been trying to improve its relationships with Japanese developers ever since. The director behind the game, Hideki Kamiya, has discussed the possibility of reviving the project before and now he's hoping to get Microsoft's blessing now that his new studio has started up.
Kamiya's new studio, Clovers Inc, is currently working on one major project already – Okami 2, a long-awaited sequel to one of the best action-adventure games of the PS2-era. However, the team might be looking to take on more work, reigniting the discussion around Scalebound.
Let’s do it, Phil ! 😀 https://t.co/BLdBs3hxGt
— 神谷英樹🍀 Hideki Kamiya🍀 (@HidekiKamiya_X) March 3, 2025
In a recent video shared by Clovers Inc on social media, Kamiya can be seen rewatching old footage of Scalebound, which was deep into development when it was cancelled. Originally, the game was being developed by Kamiya and the team at Platinum Games but two years ago, Kamiya stepped away from Platinum and has now formed his own game studio to develop the games he wants to make. This directly led to Okami 2 being greenlit decades after the first game's launch.
Sharing the video on his own account, Kamiya added a message – “Let's do it Phil!”, calling for Phil Spencer to get back in touch. Unfortunately so far, Microsoft has shown no indication that it wants to bring back Scalebound, but as the owner of the IP, they would have to sign off on any plan to bring the game back.
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KitGuru Says: I doubt Microsoft is going to go all-in on Scalebound again. However, there is some hope. We've seen in the past that Microsoft has released several IP back to their original studios to allow them to continue working on them. Remedy obtained the rights to Alan Wake back for instance, so perhaps Microsoft would be willing to hand the IP rights over to Kamiya and his new studio.